


Verdant - Burlesque Lounge

by Randi



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Burlesque Club, Alternate Universe - Mob, Angst, Bratva, Burlesque, Drama, F/M, Romance, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-02-21 22:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2483987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randi/pseuds/Randi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity used to be a dancer/singer in Vegas. She has moved to Starling City, where Barry Allen, her 'half brother' lives.<br/>Starling is filled with mafias and is being rulled by the Bratva. Felicity gets a job at Verdant, which is a burlesque lounge. The club is owned by Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen. Oliver has spend five years in Iron Heights and has come home a scarred man. </p>
<p>Don't know where this story is going, but it is OLICITY. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is the first story that I have ever written. I hope you like it. English is NOT my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes that I have made. 
> 
> This is a mix between burlesque and Bratva. 
> 
> I have some more ideas with the story but I'm not sure whether or not Oliver should be the Arrow or he should just be a total badass Bratva. Please let me know what you think.

Felicity had colored her hair blond, gotten an industrial arrow piercing and had ditched her glasses and now always wore contacts. She had left Vegas and her past behind after ripping a couple of casinos from their wealth. Felicity’s stepdad (one out of many) had taught her to count cards, however she didn’t like doing it, it didn’t feel right. But she had bills and her mother’s debts to pay, so she had in an early age learned to pick pockets and worked two jobs.

Felicity would describe her self as being rather intelligent, even though she had never gone fur-ther than getting her high school diploma. She knew a lot of different stuff, thanks to the large number of step dads she had while growing up, however not many of the competences she had required were resume material - counting cards, handling guns, picking pockets, computer technology, even hacking could she do a bit of. Yes, her talents were many, but what she loved to do was to dance and sing, when she was doing that, she never babbled or made a fool out of herself. Felicity is a soprano and has a sensual, full, blues, jazzy kind of voice. She always seemed to surprise people with her voice, since she was pale and fragile in the eyes of many, but when she sang she felt powerful and sexy

Felicity had moved to Starling City with the dream of starting a new life. Her stepbrother Barry Allen lived in Starling, they had become great friends after her mom and his dad had broken up. However, nothing had gone according to plane. Apparently, a blonde woman from Vegas without a degree and with a criminal record and who is currently living in the glades didn’t improve her resume. Even though she didn’t exactly got caught for her counting cards affair in Vegas. They could prove it was her, but they never did find the Money, and as a result she was banned from ever entering a casino in Nevada again.

Felicity had visited Barry in his lunch break one day, he was working as a journalist for the Starling Gazette and she had met Sarah Lance a good colleague of his. Sara had offered Felicity a job interview at Verdant, Starling City’s most popular burlesque lounge. Sara was apparently very good friends with the co-owners of the club Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen, and she worked part time behind the bar. Felicity had gladly accepted the interview even though Barry wasn’t ecstatic about it. He thought they were bad news.

******

‘’Who is next on the interview list?’’ Oliver asked his partner in crime Tommy Merlin, who without hesitation called out for Thea, ‘’Who is next, what was her name?’’

‘’Felicity’’ Thea called back annoyed, she was too busy flirting with Roy, who were a very good-looking bartender.

‘’Is she the last one? Because I need to back to QC soon’’ Oliver said looking at his watch.

‘’Yes, we got all the other bases covered. Roy and Sara are in charge of the bar, Thea is in charge of PR with help from Sara, Diggle is in charge of the security. We got Sin taking care of the sound system, Laurel is our tough ass attorney and Nyssa is taking care of the dancers. ‘’So all is going swell. We’re a well-oiled machine, my man’’. Tommy said happily. Oliver nodded, his gaze turning towards the door when she entered.

It was a big nightclub, with a beautiful scene and the bar was stunning. There were a lot of black and greenish colors in the club, which made it seem smaller and more intense. Felicity made her eyes wander around the club until her gaze landed on two men, who were sitting at a table. She squared her shoulders, walked over and introduced herself with her head held high.

‘’Hi, I’m Felicity. Felicity Smoak’’. She was wearing a black pencil skirt that stopped a couple of inches above her knees and a casual white blouse shirt and black heels. Her lips were painted in a deep red color and her curly hair hung loose over her shoulders.

[Felicity's outfit](https://www.google.dk/search?q=black+pencil+skirt&biw=1366&bih=591&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=qlEpVKTkBeLO7ga3pYGYDg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=uc3xtupSaxjIMM%253A%3BnCuY6TyWQ5N6xM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cnapple.net%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F04%252FBlack-Pencil-Skirt.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cnapple.net%252Ffashion-style%252Ftimeless-fashion-item-the-black-pencil-skirt%3B432%3B432%20)

‘’Hi, I’m Thomas Merlyn, but please call me Tommy’’ She looked at him, he was a very handsome, fun-looking man, and then she let her gaze drift over to Oliver. Oliver freaking Queen – he was perfection. _Well he was so her type and so out of her league that they are not even playing the same sport. He certainly knew how to wear a suit and that face, his jaw, his hair, those blue eyes!! ‘Don’t babble, don’t babble, don’t babble’_ she kept telling herself ‘ _Oliver is a womanizer, an ass, an .. but God he looks good’._ She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to control her mind.

Oliver was unable to take his eyes off of her pencil skirt that fit perfectly over her curves and her casual kind of boyish shirt she was wearing was breathtaking. She would look so good in one of his shirts he thought to himself. And those full red lips of hers were so kissable, and when she bite down her teeth on her lower lip looking all shy and innocent was the most sexiest thing he had ever seen, and he had seen quite a bit. However, that was a long time ago, he was a change man after he came home from prison, spending 5 hellish years in Iron Heights did that to a man. Without realizing he licked his lips, he wanted to taste her, sucking her lower lip into his, biting it.

That was the last thing he thought of before snapping back to reality, when Tommy hit his shoulders eyeing him with a look that said ‘what the hell are you doing’.

Oliver coughed before saying ‘’Hi, I’m Oliver.’’ He reach out his hand for her to shake it, and when she did, she could feel the burning warmth from his touch and shivers ran down her back. She wondered if he had felt it too and it made her cheeks flush.

Oliver bit back a low growl, because God she was so intoxicating when she blushed, and it excited him that he was the reason for it.

‘’I know who you are, your Mr. Queen’’.

‘’No, Mr. Queen was my father’’.

‘’I know, but he is dead, I mean he drowned, I mean he died in a sailing accident, OMG I’m so sorry, I did not mean to babble, I’m just going to stop in .. Three, two, one. Please forgive me’’

He gave her a sincere smile, which was something he hadn’t had done in a long time. He liked her babbling, it was somehow so honest. Something he was not use to in the family and world he was living in.

******

After an hour, Felicity was walking through the doors and out onto the streets in the Glades. She picked up her phone an immediately called Barry.

‘’I got the job. I’m starting as a waitress, but I’m going to audition for Nyssa, who is in charge of the dancers. I’m so excited Barry.

‘‘That's great Lis, but are you okay with this type of job, they’re shady people‘’

‘’Like I said MONEY, and Barry we’re from Vegas – the capital of shady people and now how to take of myself’’ she explained happily, knowing she would be able to pay the bills know. ‘’BTW. I met some of them and they actually seemed really nice, except my one boss he seemed like bit of an ass.’’

‘’What, why, what happened?’’ he finally manage to stammer out.

‘’Ohh, nothing. You know that Oliver Queen kid, that filthy rich billionaire.’’

‘’The heir to QC and who literately owns all or at least half of Starling City?’’

‘’Yeah, that guy, what’s his problem?’’

‘’Well, the Queens are Bratva, the biggest Russian mafia organization. After Robert Queen died, Moira Queen has been in charge of Queen Consolidated. Oliver Queen is the long lost hero, who has returned to Starling alive after surviving 5 years in jail since he took the fall for all of his father’s escapades and illegal activities, but apparently he isn’t eager to take over as the CEO. Instead, he has opened up the burlesque lounge named Verdant, together with Tommy Merlyn and nobody really knows what is going on ‘back stage’ if you get what I’m saying. I’m personally betting on that it’s some kind of money-laundering scheme and if it weren’t for the fact that they have bought off my boss and the police force, they would properly all be rotten up in jail by now.’’

‘’Maybe he just want to get out of the family business?’’ Felicity says with an adorable naïve tone, knowing she is kidding herself.

‘’This is the Bratva, they don’t let people get out!’’

‘’I know! But what about the Merlyn’s? I met a Tommy Merlyn’’

‘’The Merlyn’s are also Bratva. Malcom Merlyn is CEO of Merlyn Global Group and his son is Tommy Merlyn. Him and Oliver are billionaire playboys who change women as much as they change their clothes. Anyway, the Merlyn’s are some under group in the Bratva, with their own men and illegal activities. They have always been close to the Queens, and together they own Starling.

‘’I get Tommy Merlyn being a playboy, he was rather charming, but Oliver was stone face cold, but maybe I did something wrong. I did accidently babble about his dead dad.’’

‘’Well, Oliver is according to Sara a change man since he came back from prison. Apparently, the Yakuza, who is some Japanese mob that are getting pretty serious here in Starling too. Rumors has it, that they weren’t very friendly towards him, while he did his time.’’

Felicity frowns, ‘’Well, he was a total ass, anyway.’’

‘’What did he do Lis’’ concern showing in his voice.

‘’Well, he didn’t do anything, that’s kind of the problem, he didn’t say anything at all, he just let Tommy do all the talking. It was like I wasn’t good enough to be talked too, which I know is BS, because everyone else was great. I mean Tommy has already nicknamed me Smoaky, and Thea Queen herself actually hugged me when saying goodbye. And Oliver just glared at everybody who touched me and he didn’t say a word until he muttered a low goodbye. It was like I was toxic and he didn’t want to get infected or something’’ She took a deep breath. ‘’I’m sorry, I don’t know what happens with my mouth sometimes.’’

‘’Hell, don’t mind me, I’m just impressed that you got all of that out in one breath.’’ Barry laughs. ‘’Lis, can we talk later, my boss wants to see me.’’

‘’Sure’’

''But Lis, congratulations with job, I really hope it works out for you, I know how much you like to perform, but just be careful, you’re the only sister I got.’’

‘’Yeah, thanks Barry, it means a lot. Love you.’’ She hangs up with a smile on her face. Her first shift is tomorrow night and she can’t wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your great response to chapter one!!
> 
> Again, I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize for any mistakes that I have made. 
> 
> Rating: T - because of language. I may change to a higher rating in future chapters.  
> I do not own the Arrow. No copyright infringement intended.

It was her first night working at Verdant and the place was packed. She walked up and greeted Diggle at the door.

‘’Hello. John, wasn’t it?’’

‘’Please just call me Diggle or Dig, everybody else does’’

‘’Okay, I’m Felicity’’

‘’I know, Thea asked me to tell you to meet her backstage.’’

‘’Great, thanks Diggle.’’

She walked through the lounge, where all the tables were filled with people. When Felicity got backstage, she was met with a sour glare from a woman, asking her what the hell she was doing backstage, but before she could answer Thea interrupted.

‘’Isabel! Behave! Hey Felicity, I got your waitress uniform right here,’’ Thea said handing Felicity a small, sexy black uniform. ‘’Before you change I want you to meet Nyssa, she is one of dancers, but she is also the one creates the dance routines for the shows.’’

‘’Fantastic, I love to preform and I’m actually a pretty good singer,’’ which earns Felicity an annoyed glare from Isabel.

‘’Well, dollface. Do us all a favor and spare us the time - people don’t come to hear us sing. If you’re really that naive, you should just go and crawl back to the hellhole of a farm where you came from.’’

‘’Excuse me? I did not grow up at a farm!’’

‘’Whatever?’’ Isabel said with a look that could kill.

‘’Vegas,’’ Felicity snapped back, anger boiling inside of her.

‘’What?!’’

‘’That hellhole you’re talking about, it’s Vegas. I’m from Vegas.’’

‘’Oh, I never would have guessed’’ Isabel said while eyeing her body from top to bottom. And that was it.

‘’Well, I may not be a farm girl, and I may have grown up in Vegas, but I still know a cow when I see one.’’ Leaving Isabel in shock, Felicity stomps off, walking towards Thea who looked stunned.

‘’Woaw girl, you know how to turn on your bitch-mode. I like it.’’

‘’It’s not usually my style, I just snapped. Maybe I should apologies, but then again she was being mean, and she doesn’t even know me. And now I feel kind of bad. And…’’

‘’No way, Isabel Rochev needs to be told off. Trust me! Anyway, this is Nyssa.’’ The two women greeted each other.

‘’If you want to audition we can do that sometime this week, if you’re up for it?’’

‘’Yes, that would be great. I promise I won’t let you down.’’

‘’Don’t worry about it, McKenna who is one of our dancers, she just found out that she is pregnant, so we are actually really desperate for a new dancer.’’

‘’Like I said, I won’t let you down.’’

Being all excited about the audition she was going to do for Nyssa, Felicity went to change into her uniform. When she was done, she didn’t recognize any of the girls standing backstage, except for Isabel, and no way in Hell she was going to talk to her again. She decided to go down to Tommy and Oliver’s office trying to find Thea, but instead of finding Thea, she literally ran into Tommy.

‘’Wooh.. Damm, Smoak you look Smoaking,’’ Tommy said with a flirtatious glint in his eye.

‘’Thanks, I was looking for Thea or for somebody to show me how things work around here.’’

‘’Sara can do that, she’s in the bar. By the way have you met Laurel,’’ Tommy asked while stepping aside, making Felicity able to see a gorgeous dark haired woman with mile long legs. Felicity was stunned and finally snapped back when Tommy continued talking.

‘’She’s our lawyer and by some miracle, I also get to call her my fiancée.’’ The two women didn’t say anything, but smiled kindly at each other.

‘’Well, I probably should go and find Sara.’’

‘’Yeah, I’m sorry that this is going to be your first shift. One of our ‘brothers’ Max Fuller decided to throw his birthday party here in the last minute, so we have full house tonight and Oliver is running late as always.’’

******

After several of hours of hard work and having walked miles in her black stilettos heels, Felicity was enjoying one of the night’s shows. The girls on the stage all looked amazing, while perform-ing ‘’Diamonds are a girl best friend’’ which of course had Isabel Rochev in the lead, another perfect looking brunet.

_‘I’m going to be on that stage, I will not be serving cocktails for the rest of my life,’_ Felicity pep-talked herself, walking past one of the VIP tables when a man suddenly called out for her attention.

‘’Excuse me.’’ Felicity turned around to face the man. ‘’I’ll have the house best vodka and tell Isabel that I’m here’’.

She nods, ‘’And you are?’’

‘’Max Fuller, nice to meet you miss?..’’ he asked while flashing his million dollar smile hinting that he wanted to know her name.

‘’Felicity. Felicity Smoak,’’ she smiled back, being polite.

******

Oliver was entering the club, annoyed that Max Fuller had to throw his birthday bash in his club. If it had been any other day he could had dealt with it, but of course, it had to be today where everything had gone to crap.

First, there had been hour-long meetings at QC. Then there had been lunch with his mother, and again she was complaining about him not taking more responsibility for the Bratva and speeding to much time on running a legit burlesque lounge. To shut her up, he had gone to the Glades trying to figure out where the new drug called Vertigo came from, because it wasn't theirs and he has to find out who the new player in the field is and make him pay for it. However, neither he, Diggle or Slade nor the rest of his men had found anything so far. And now he had to endure another encounter with Max Fuller. They never had liked each other and something about Fuller’s face just made him want to punch him.

‘’Hey, nice of you to show up.’’ Tommy said, interrupting Oliver’s thoughts.

‘’Sorry I’m late, I got your message. Fuller is here?’’ Oliver asked annoyed.

‘’Why, you gonna wish him a happy birthday?’’ Tommy asked sarcastically, which only earned him a glare by Oliver.

‘’He is sitting by one of the VIP tables’’. Oliver looked up at the tables and saw him talking to Felicity, which automatically made him square his jaw and clench his fists so hard together that his knuckles were turning white.

‘’Я ненавижу его _[I hate_ _him_ ]! He does everything he can to piss me off.’’

‘’Maybe that’s because you slept with his fiancée… at their rehearsal dinner.’’ Tommy says with a relaxed grin on his face.

Oliver opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again. He don’t have anything to say, he know exactly how big of an ass he used to be.

‘’Well, he’s only mad at you because you’re a Queen and didn’t get punished. If it has been him or any other Bratva pulling a stunt like that, they he would have paid for it.’’

‘’It does has its benefits being Oliver Queen - Heir to QC and the entire Bratva organization.’’

‘’Just behave Oliver. Fuller is also a Bratva Captain just like you. He is family’’.

‘’I know, but I don’t trust him. And he doesn’t support me taking over the Bratva throne.’’ Oliver says with a smirk on his face, when looking up and seeing Fuller and Felicity still talking his smirks fade and his stone-face reappears. ‘’And why the hell does he keep talking to Felicity.’’

‘’So, is that what’s really bothering you, huh?’’

‘’No.’’ Oliver answers with as much determination in his voice as he can muster and then stomps off to Fullers table. Not sure, but he thinks he hears Tommy laughing and shouting something after him, but he can’t make it out due to the music and the noises coming from the crowd.

******

Felicity is laughing and Max Fuller is about to say something more, when Oliver interrupts their conversation, placing his hand on Felicity’s lower back, ‘’Felicity will you attend to the tables on the floor. I will personally take care of whatever Mr. Fuller wants.’’

Oliver’s voice startles Felicity and she turns to look up at him, but Oliver isn’t looking at her but at Fuller instead. She can easily tell from the tone in Oliver’s voice and the poker face securely placed on his face that he isn’t feeling thrilled about seeing Fuller. Felicity suddenly feels very warm and isn’t sure whether it has something to do with Oliver’s hand placed on her back or the fact that she finds herself being stuck in the middle of the two men’s’ pissing contest.

Felicity swallows loudly and lets out a strangled ‘’Of course’’. She turns back to Fuller and smiles, ‘’It was nice meeting you Max’’.

Fuller breaks eye contact with Oliver and turn his gaze to her, ‘’See you around Felicity.’’ Before walking down the couple of stairs it takes to get to the main floor, she turns her head back and sees Oliver’s hands clenched into fists.

**

‘’Personal service from the boss himself, I feel honored.’’ Fuller says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

‘’Just trying to be friendly,’’ Oliver answered, putting on his billionaire playboy smile. His fake smile.

‘’Hmpf…. You shouldn’t bother, I was preferring being pleased by the hot blond,’’ his eyes gazing past Oliver to the place where Felicity had disappeared off to.

‘’If I were you, I wouldn’t even be thinking about going down that road,’’ he growled back.

Unaffected by Oliver’s anger, being even a bit pleased that he could get a rile out of him, Fuller darkly hinted, ‘’Well, warnings never stopped you. But then again, I don’t have a mother I can hide behind. So, I guess I will settle with a bottle of vodka and if you would tell Isabel that I’m here, that would be great.’’

‘’You two have been spending quite some time together,’’ he enquires. Not that he cares that his ex-fling is hanging out with Fuller. Isabel and him had been together for a couple of weeks many years ago. It had been a mistake - she had been a mistake. That was what he had told her, and then he had moved on to the next best thing. She had never really forgiving him and he understood why, but thinking back and seeing her now - he knew that Isabel had never been a nice person. And he isn’t particularly fond of the idea of Isabel and Fuller, the two people that probably hates him the most, are spending so much time together. They are both bad news and together they are even worse.

‘’Yeah, well.. We have some things in common.’’ Fuller says while looking directly at him. Challenging him.

**

For Felicity, the rest of the night went by without any more interactions with Oliver, but she did catch glimpses of him from time to time, and she swears that one time it looked like he was gazing at her, but she ignores the thought, thinking she is being ridicules. If anything, he is probably just checking that she is doing her job.

******

When the bar has closed and Felicity is about to head home, looking forward to some well-deserved sleep, Oliver speaks her name.

‘’Felicity, before you go, I have your contract here, and you need to sign it.’’ Oliver says while looking at her with his usual poker face. It was impossible to know what that man was thinking.

‘’Oh. I didn’t know you guys actually did the whole contract thing.’’ Oliver’s brow rises, questioning her statement without speaking any words.

‘’I mean of course you do. It’s the law, but you guys are big and important, and I’m just gonna shut up now.’’ Felicity shook her head knowing, she had just made a complete fool out of herself once again in front of Oliver.

Flustered Felicity ran her hand through her golden hair, which caught Oliver’s attention making him wish he knew how her soft golden curls felt under his big, rough hands. It was so easy for him to just reach out and touch it, to take one of her wild curls and place it gently behind her ear.

Felicity grabbed the contract out of Oliver’s hand, accidently brushing her soft fingers against his, coursing him to flinch at her warm touch. It had been years since he had been touched in a way that made his body burn and ache for more. Felicity’s eyes grew wide when she saw his reaction, thinking that he must really not like her due to the tortures expression crossing his face. 

‘’I should read it,’’ Felicity stammered out nervously.

‘’Don’t you trust me?’’ Oliver snapped back at her. He wasn’t thinking straight. Of course, she should read it. She shouldn’t trust him, even though he found himself wishing she did. He was Bratva, a murderer. By now, she had probably heard all the horrible stories about him, both the true and the false ones. Maybe that’s why she sounded so nervous, maybe she was afraid of him. She should be! But if she was afraid, why did she keep staring him directly in the eyes, nobody else did.

‘’Hmm,’’ She looked into his deep blue eyes, which made her lose all focus. It was as if, she was being hypnotized and unable to break free from his gaze. ‘’Yes, I trust you’’. It was like he was forcing her to say what he wanted to hear, but for some reason she didn’t mind. For some reason, deep down inside of her, in that moment, she wanted to trust him.

‘’Then sign the papers,’’ he said while handing her a pen.

Felicity gulped and took a deep breath and turned to place the papers on the bar to sign them, thankful for escaping his blue eyes. But she could still feel his eyes on her, roaming her body, burning into her flesh. The sensation made her body turn all warm and fuzzy and excited, which should be utterly ridicules, since she was pretty sure he didn’t like her. He couldn’t like her. He was still Oliver freaking Queen and she wasn’t bad herself, but she wasn’t no model either.

She signed the papers and handed them back to Oliver, seeing a small mischievous smile spread across his face. He leaned in a bit closer to her, so only she would be able to hear him whisper with a low and seductive tone, ‘’Now, you belong to me.’’ With a smirk on his face, he pulled back, turned around and walked back to his office, leaving Felicity flushed and stunned, thinking ‘ _Boy I’m screwed.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If your wondering why Max Fuller is a Bratva captain like Oliver. It is because I have done some research, and the head of Bratva have several captains under him. And each captain has his own small group of soldiers.   
> (hope this makes sense)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the many kudos and comments! They mean the world to me!!! :D  
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> I do not own the Arrow. No copyright infringement intended.

Finally! Felicity thought for herself. She was standing in front of the doors to Verdant. It had been two weeks since her first shift and now she was meeting Nyssa for her audition. She was supposed to have done the audition a week ago, but it was postponed since Nyssa had a family emergency. It was something to do with her dad, Ra al ghul or whatever his name was. That was all the explanation she got.

Anyway, the more time she spent in the club the more she loved it. Not just the club, but the people too, except Isabel of course. Oliver was a category for himself, she really couldn’t figure him out, and she really hated mysteries. Guess it came from a childhood where her hobby was to guess or imaging what the ‘bad’ guys her mom was dating did for a living.

‘I really should stop thinking about Oliver’, she let out a deep breath. ‘Best just to stay the Hell away from him, and not caring about what is behind that locked door in Verdant. What could he possible hide in that basement?’ Last night she had seen Oliver, Dig and Roy go down there. ‘But whatever. I’m so not gonna care anymore. Nope, this is me Felicity Smoak, not caring!’

**** FLASHBACK** - **1 week ago****

It had been a slow night, and during her break, she had gone to the ladies room, but on her way back she heard a big loud bang. She went further down the hallway, passing a sign that read ‘employees only’ and turned around the corner bumping into Oliver so hard she almost fell over, but he manage to get a firm grip on her elbow and waist so she didn’t fall.

‘’What are you doing down here?’’  

‘’I.. eerm..’’ She was caught in his blue eyes, that seemed slightly darker than usual, slightly more attractive, if that was even possible. And his gigantic rough hands on her body, ‘oh boy’. Her mind definitely went places they shouldn’t.

She should stay away from Oliver. She should hate him. Barry had told her things about him. She had also heard stories about him, all kind of stories - party stories from Tommy, but also horrible stories. He had tortured people until they told him, what he wanted to know, and if they were lucky they would live. After prison Oliver had become one of the most respected or feared Bratva captains in the organization.

She had heard a lot of gossip about him from the women in the club. Apparently, he prefers tall brunettes, and is apparently quite amazing in bed. He had ones fucked a girl so thoroughly, she couldn’t sit down for days.

‘’.. I heard a loud bang and I just went to check up on it’’

Oliver removed his hands away after making sure Felicity had regained her balance.

‘’Don’t come down here again!’’

‘’Ohh,’’ Felicity said raising a questioning brow.

‘’This is my area. Only the people that I give permission goes down here.’’ Why in the Hell did he need to explain himself to her? Why the Hell did he want to? Damm.

‘’Well, you really should put assign up or something, if it’s not all employees who are allowed to go down here, or at least let new employees know, so you don’t have to go all ‘grrr’ on them. Not that I’m telling you what to do, because you’re the boss, and I really should learn to shut up.’’

‘’That would be my preference, but somehow I don’t think that’s possible, but I would like to try’’. Felicity’s eyes widen, hurt and fear crossing her face. He hadn’t meant to say that. He didn’t mean it. It would be his preference for her to shut up, for him to make her shut up, preferably with his mouth smashing hers, invading hers, kissing her so thoroughly that she didn’t want to be kissed by another man again. WTF was happening to him.

After prison, Sara once told him he deserved to be happy, to find someone who could still harness that light that was still in side of him. He hadn’t believed her, he didn't think it was possible. He was lost. Broken. He just wanted to be left alone. It was best that way for everyone. But for the first time he found himself wanting that. Wanting not to be alone. Wanting her.

‘’I’m sorry’’, she breathed out. A breath she hadn’t noticed she had been holding. She bit down on her lower lips, an old habit of hers. She wanted to say something else, to tell him off, but nothing came to mind. She was about to turn around to leave, angry and embarrassed about the situation, but before she could, Oliver stepped into her personal space, towering over her with his big, masculine body. His eyes fixating on her lips, raising his hand, grapping her chin, brushing his thumb gently over her bottom lip, which were painted in a beautiful pink shade, releasing it from the hold of her teeth.

‘’Oliver’’ she quietly moaned out, making him lick his lips and eyes growing darker, the darkest she had ever seen.

‘’сказать мое имя снова’’ [Say my name again]

‘’What?’’, Felicity asked, shivers running through her body. She had heard some of the people around the club speaking Russia, but nobody had never spoken to her in Russia before. Oliver had certainly not spoken to her in Russia before. She was quite certain that something like that was unforgettable. No way was a man allowed to sound that sexy while speaking a language she didn’t even understood. She was wickedly turned on by it.

Oliver was about to open his mouth to repeat what he had just said in Russia to her in English, so she would understand. Even though he knew from the fact, how her eyes had grown darker, and her body slightly had come closer to him that she didn’t mind the Russian. That fact made him smile a bit, because the Russian came out often, when he was angry, frustrated, turned on. It was the primal beast inside of him that came out. And right now he wanted nothing more than for Felicity to say his name again, wanting to feel her lips move under his thumb when she spoke his name. But before he could speak the words Sarah interrupted them.

‘’Arhemm,’’ Sarah cleared her throat, making Felicity jump around to face her and for Oliver to close his eyes leaning his head slightly back, breathing out loud.

‘’Felicity, I need you on the floor.’’

‘’Yes, of course, I’m coming.’’ Felicity turned her head back, sneaking a quick look at Oliver, who were looking down at her again with an unreadable expression. She slowly took a step back and smiled while turning around walking down the hallway out of Oliver reach.

****** **Flashback end****

What was in that basement anyway?

And what would had happened if Sara hadn’t interrupted them?

He was clearly about to say something and he might had been leaning in about to kiss her or maybe it had all been her imagination. If it hadn’t been for Sara’s interrogation afterwards, she probably would have thought it all had been a dream or something.

Oliver clearly wasn’t the most social person in the club. She had only had a few conversations with the guy, since she signed her contract. But she had caught him looking at her several times and whenever Fuller was in the club, trying to talk to her, Oliver always showed up at her side ordering her to go do something. She rather liked the thought that he might be jealous or something, but she knew that wasn’t the case. She had seen him with a couple of different gorgeous brunettes during the last couple of weeks, guessing his playboy days weren’t totally over. Everybody seemed to be happy that Oliver was having some fun, even though she thought that he looked a bit uncomfortable in the setting or out of place or whatever you would call it.

But why couldn’t she just not care about any of it.

******

She pushed the doors to Verdant open, finding Nyssa and Sara by the stage whispering to each other.

‘’Hey girls.’’

‘’Right on time,’’ Nyssa said with a smile ‘’So are you ready’’

‘’As ready as I’ll ever be.’’ Felicity replied, handing her over her IPod. ‘’Can I do it to this track.’’ Nyssa looking down, smiling ‘’Sure’’

Felicity walked around on the large stage, sliding a chair into the center of the stage. Taking out her hairband, swinging her hair loose. That’s when the music started playing. Her hips where swinging from side to with the music, her hands going up and down her body. A minute later or so the music ended, and she eyed Sara and Nyssa’s big smiles on their faces.

[Felicity's audition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3dPdKhnRU%20)

‘’Clearly, you got moves. But it will take a lot of work for you to learn the different routines…’’, Nyssa said, when she was cut of midsentence by Felicity, who was willing to beg her to give her a spot.

‘’I will work really hard. Please, please just give me a chance.’’ Nyssa chuckled by her interruption.

‘’What I was trying to say before you interrupted me was, that of course you’re in. No way I can say no to a girl who moves the way you do.’’

‘’Hey,’’ Sara interrupted faking hurt, which only made Nyssa look at her with heart eyes before saying, ‘’Don’t worry babe. Beside, from what you’ve told me Oliver is more her type.’’

‘‘What?? No’’ Felicity burst out loud, surprised by the sudden turn of conversation.

‘’Oh come on Felicity, I saw you two in the hallway.’’ Sara said, winking at her. Before Felicity could answer Nyssa intervened ‘’Yeah, I don’t stand a chance, since she is Oliver’s girl.’’

‘’I’m not his girl.’’ She said quietly, her face had turning red.

Nyssa handed her a piece of paper. ‘’Whatever. Here is a schedule for next week rehearsals.’’

‘’Thank you, thank you, thank you.’’ Felicity cheered happily.

******

Oliver came up to the bar from the storage room, with a box of liquor, while felicity was dancing. She was breathtaking. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, not the way how her hips moved and her golden hair flowing around. She was perfection.

Then his phone ringed. It was Dig, updating him on the Count Vertigo case. They still hadn’t found him, but they were following a lead. He told Diggle that he would be there as soon as he could.

The music had ended a while back and the three women had been talking ever since. He noticed how Felicity’s face expression was a happy one.

He walked over to them. ‘’Have you hired her Nyssa?’’

The three women had turned around, looking at a sweaty Oliver Queen, wearing work close. A look Felicity hadn’t had the pleasure to see before, and damm she didn’t mind that look at all.

‘’Yes, this girl is a natural’’, Nyssa replied smiling.

‘’I noticed!’’ He said while turning his gaze towards Felicity, his lips slightly going up on one side in a smirk.

‘’Well, I’m going to head off, Dig needs me.’’ He turned around putting on his leather jacket and his helmet before turning back towards Felicity, raising his hand placing it softly on her shoulder, ‘’Congratulation with your new job, Felicity.’’

******

‘’What’ve you got, Dig?’’

‘’We tracked down a guy, who is one of Count Vertigo’s biggest dealers, but he said he didn't know anything, he said that the only Vertigo he knew was a Werner Vertigo''.

‘’Why are we here?’’, Oliver asked, looking up at a very shady house deep in the Glades.

‘’Well, I made a few calls and this is Werner Vertigo's last known address. I thought it was worth a look. There is however a problem.’’

''What?''

''Apparently Werner Vertigo is dead.''

''What?!?'' Oliver asked with a confused look.

''I had Lyla at ARGUS to see what she had on him and apprently, Werner Vertigo died in a suspicious car accident 15 years ago, and at the time he was a business associate with you dad.''

''I don't understand?''

''Lyla pulled a lot of strings to get us this information, she even got acces to some sealed documents.'' Dig says while handing over a couple of files to Oliver.

''Werner and your dad made a lot of money on drugs back in the days, but Werner became to powerful and to gready. He tried to take over the brotherhood, but then he died. His wife and son was never seen again. Nobody know what happend to them.''

''I don't remember any of this, but I guess a 8-9 year old boy wound't remember much about stuff like that.'' Oliver said, annoyed with himself. ''So this new Count Vertigo, could this be Werner Vertigo's son?''

''It's quite possible. Who else?''  

Oliver was thinking about Diggles newfound information, when it suddenly hit him that Diggle were alone.

‘’Where is Slade?’’ Oliver demanded to know. He had sent him and Dig out together.

‘’Well, he killed the guy we tracked down before I could stop him.’’

‘’He what?’’ Oliver looking at Dig, with pure anger.

‘’I tried to stop him. He is taking care of the body as we speak. I’m sorry Oliver.’’

‘’No, Diggle, I gave you strict orders, not to kill anybody. I should have known better than to count on him. ’’

‘’Oliver, the man is broken. After Shado.. ’’, Diggle trailed of, being interrupted by Oliver.

‘’Yes, I know. I was there when we found her, lying on the floor, dead. Because of some idiot spiked her drink. But we found him, we ended him.’’

‘’Oliver, just go easy on him.’’ ‘’I need to be able to trust my men. Slade is of this investigation. Suspended.’’

‘’For how long?’’

‘’Until, I know what to do with him, and what type of punishment he deserves.’’

‘’Copy that.’’ Diggle accepted Oliver’s decision, knowing it was the right one, even though he didn’t like the idea of suspending Slade. The man had had a rough time, losing his Shado. Diggle felt for Slade, he could only imaging what he would do if he lost his Lyla. 

‘’Lets go in.’’

After a good twenty minutes, they came back out. There was no trace of Werner Vertigo or his family, the place had been wiped clean.

Oliver stood by his bike, when a car with two men in it drove by slowly. Suddenly the one guy pulls out a gun aiming it at Oliver’s back. Diggle ran towards Oliver, tackling him to the ground, but he was too late, the shot had been fired and Oliver was hit. Diggle was about to shoot back, but unfortunately they were already speeding away in the car.

******

Luckily, he got the number-plate.

Oliver had been hit, but nothing serious only a flesh wound, but he needed to get it properly cleaned or it would catch an infection.

They hurried back to Verdant that had opened for business. However, a brawl outside the door demanded Diggle’s attention, leaving Oliver to hurry down the lair, avoiding people who wanted to talk to him.

He could feel the blood from his wound increasing. Even though he was applying pressure on the wound, he could only hide the blood behind his leather jacket for so long and wearing a white t-shirt today had turned out to be a real pain in the ass decision.

When walking down the hallway he once again ran into Felicity, not thinking he caught her before her body would have hit the floor. She grabbed a hold on him, and his jacket, which made him flinched.

‘’Wow, please tell me you’re not trying to make ‘you run me over’ into a habit.’’ She exclaimed, a bit out of breath. That’s when they both realized his hands were covered in his blood, which now also had left bloodstains on her clothes.

‘‘Oh my God.’’ She took a step back, looking at him with a concerned look.

'‘You’re bleeding.’’ She stated still a bit shocked.

‘’What happened? Why are you bleeding?’’ she looked, waiting for him to explain himself, but she didn’t get and answer. Instead, he locked his hands over her wrists, dragged her down the hall, punched in the code to the Lair, slamming the door shut behind her. He hauled her down the stairs towards the medical table, pushing her back toward the medical table. He put his blood-filled hands on both sides of her, trapping her and invading her personal space. His face just few inches away from her.

He looked directly into her eyes, anger and frustration featuring on his face. She shouldn’t be Down here, but he needed to make sure she weren't going to tell anybody about this, and now he also needed to make sure that she didn’t go tell anybody about the Lair. He knew he shouldn’t had brought her down here, but he had needed to get out of that hallway before attracting more unwanted attention and he didn't know what else he could have done. 

‘’You are not allowed to tell anybody about this! Do you understand?’’, Felicity nodded in response, not sure what to say.

A long moment of silence filled the room, there were only the two of them, staring at each other, neither of them moving or looking away. Felicity was the one to break the silence.

‘’Are you okay?’’ she asked while looking down to the spot where she thought the blood came from. Oliver was stunned that, that was her first question. He kind of like the thought of her caring for him. A thought he shut down immediately.

He removed his hands from her sides, slipping of his jacket. ‘’I got shoot, nothing serious, but I need to get it cleaned up,’’ he said while trying to remove his white t-shirt, before he flinched at the sudden stabbing pain in his side.

‘’Let me.’’ Felicity said, making Oliver look at her. ‘’Just raise your hands a bit and let me help you take of your shirt, because whatever you’re trying to do looks painful.’’ She exhaled slowly, looking at him, searching his face for permission to help him, and he gave it with a single nod.

She removed his shirt, accidently touching his body a few places on the way, and because of the height difference she ended up standing very close to him and her face very close to his.

All of the sudden her body was slammed against the medical table. Once more Oliver’s mouth was crashing down on hers, kissing, sucking, licking her mouth open, allowing him to invade her mouth with his tongue. He forcefully gripped her face with one of his hands, the other one tangled in her soft hair. The softest hair he had ever felt.

When the kiss finally broke Oliver continued kissing her, down her jaw and neck, making Felicity moan, which caused him to growl, because that was the most sexiest sound he had ever heard.

He found a specifically sore spot on Felicity, right over her pulse point making her moan again. He liked to hear her moan, he liked that it was him doing that to her. He didn’t want anyone else to do it to here. A sudden feeling of greediness and possessiveness washed over him, making him grip her harder and kissing, licking and sucking violently on her skin, making sure he was leaving a big and very visible mark on her.

‘’Ты моя’’ [You are mine] he kept repeating the words.

Felicity had her hands on his back, her nails digging harder and harder into his body, wanting him closer to her, even though his body was already smashed against hers.

Then his hands went down over her body, gripping her hips, then moving to the small of her back and down to her ass, cupping her ass violently.

‘’Я хочу тебя’’ [I want you]

‘’Ты мне нужен’’ [I need you] he whispered against her skin, making shivers run down through her body.

He turned his attention back from her neck to her lips, demanding her lips. He was just about to place his hands on the back of her thighs to be able to lift her up on the medical table, when the door to the Lair swung open.

черт побери [Dammit], he snarled with anger filled in his voice.

‘’Sorry it took so long.. erhm,’’ Diggle stopped midsentence seeing the very intimate situation between Felicity and Oliver.

‘’Is she, suppose to be down here?’’, looking at Oliver trying to understand what the Hell is going on.

His hard groin was still pressed into her body and Oliver was breathing heavily, trying to get his lower body parts under control. He finally looked up at Diggle, who was looking like he wanted an explanation.

‘’No, she’s not.’’ For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of hurt cross Felicity’s face. ‘’But she found out I was hurt.’’

‘’Aha, and’’ Diggle said with a raised eyebrow.

‘’Just go home Dig, we’re done for tonight, Felicity will help stich me back together.’’ He said looking down at her, seeing her nodding slightly.

‘’Okay Captain, I asked Lyla to see what she could find out about the number plate. I’ll let you know when we have something.’’ And with that Diggle was gone, leaving them yet again alone in the Lair. Oliver took a couple of steps back, removing his body from hers. She surprised him by going over to the equipment table, preparing the things that they were going to need. She turned to face him.

‘’Come here, I need to clean the wound, so you won’t get an infection.’’

******

His face was expressionless, he didn’t give anything away. He didn’t even flinch, when Felicity was cleaning his wound. It still hurt when he was being patched up, but he would make his mind think of something else.

Sometimes he would think of his father both the good and the bad. Most times his mind would return to Iron Heights and think about all the unspeakable things that he had experienced. The things that he had done to survive, all the pain he had felt after every beating and new scars he had received. He was a well-known person in the infirmary, at least in the beginning. After a year, he was the one who began sending people there instead.

One time Malcom Merlyn had been allowed to visit him in the infirmary ward. The only thing he remembered from that visit was that Malcom had told him that – pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

He often wondered how he had survived those five years. He had many enemies. There were a lot of people who wanted revenge for whatever Robert Queen had done to them. Of course, he had Bratva brothers that tried to protect him. He also had bonded with his cellmate Yao Fei, a Chinese military guy, Who had taught him how to fight and survive.

But today his eyes and mind weren’t focused on any of that, but instead on a couple of small, white hands working their magic, trying to stich him up. Thinking about how easily Felicity handled whatever supplies she needed too to rinse his wound, stitching it together and gazing it. Clearly, this was not her first time, and suddenly anger filled his mind and without thinking, he grab her wrist clenching it tight.

‘’How the Hell, do you know how to stich up wounds?’’ Oliver demanded to know.

‘’Erhm, one of my _many_ step dads, was injured once and he needed a few stiches, and my mom is afraid of blood, so that left me.’’ She said, looking down on his hands on her wrist wanting him to release her so she could continue her work and he did.

‘’What, they don’t have any emergency rooms in Vegas?’’, sarcasm filling his voice, annoyed and angered that Felicity had been taught something like that.

Felicity snorted. ‘’Don’t they have any in Starling either?’’, she replied, biting back at him, hinting to their current situation. Earning her a sincere smile from him.

‘’I’m already in the best hands.’’ He whispered in a low husky voice, his lips slightly going up in a charming smirk.

‘’Well I’m all done! You’re as good as new.’’ She said smiling, proud of her work. He took one of her hands in his squishing it lightly, ‘’Thank you.’’ He said sincerely, meaning it. And then her phone started ringing, forcing her to move out of his reach, his hands dropping down. She answered her phone without thinking, knowing who it was. Barry. She was supposed to be at Barry’s place by now, eating and watching movies.

_‘Felicity?’_

_‘Hey Barry, I know I’m late, but some work just came up, but I’m on my way over as soon as possible.’_

_‘Fine, just hurry! I got mint-chip ice cream, and I was thinking we could order take out from Big Belly Burger.’_

_‘You’ve always known the way to my heart.’_

_‘Great, seen you soon then.’_

_‘I’m on my way’. And she hung up._

She looked back at Oliver, who looked thoroughly pissed. She hadn’t done anything, wrong, so why the Hell did he act all hot and cold all the time. What could she probably had done to piss him of, she was just talking to Barry. Ignoring it she said, ‘’I know we probably need to talk about tonight, but can we do that tomorrow or something? I promise I won’t tell anybody about all of this’’ she said while pointing around. ‘’But, I really need to go. I have..’’

‘’Of course! You have Barry!’’ he almost growled out. Hating the thought of her and her boyfriend, whishing she would just leave so he could go and destroy some practice dummies. ''We'll talk tomorrow, but if you even think of telling anybody about this. I will,..''

‘I won't. I promise. And it’s not..He’s my’’ Felicity reasured Oliver while realizing that Oliver was thinking that Barry was her boyfriend, and he positively looked like somebody had just kicked his puppy-dog. She wanted to explain that Barry was her half-brother. That their kiss wasn’t nothing. That it was everything, but Oliver coldly cut her off.

‘’Just go, Felicity… Now!’’ Making her gaps at the sudden hardness of his voice. She turned around grapping her things, heading for the staircase before turning a round, ‘’Goodnight Oliver.’’

The door had closed, before he mumbled out a low, ‘’Goodnight Felicity.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! :) PLease tell me what you think or if you have any ideas for the fic. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I haven't updated in forever!!! I have exams in December and January and I have to write a big project in the next semester! :/ ., And I haven't really known where to take this story (plotwise). Anyway here is the new Chapter. I hope ypu like it. :)
> 
> Thank soo much for all your kudos and comments!!!!!! They mean the world!! :D THANK YOU!
> 
> *Please keep in mind - English is not my first language, so I deeply apologize for any mistakes I've made :)

A week past by with rehearsals, rehearsals and more rehearsals. Felicity loved every bit of it, except the deadly glares she received from Isabel from time to time, but Felicity was determined not to let it get to her.

The relationship between her and Oliver had been nonexistence. He had been around the club fixing things and totally working the whole sexy handyman look in his worn-out jeans and tight t-shirts showing of his muscles. However, that was sooo not what she should be focusing on right now, because now she was mad, or at least tried to be.

It had been a week since they had kissed, a week since he had manhandle her not that she minded that at all, actually she very much like the thought of Oliver manhandling her. But now a week later, he had barely acknowledged her in any way with exception of the stolen moments during rehearsals, when she would feel his eyes lingering on her, but as soon as her gaze would clash with his he would compose himself with a distant unreadable expression. She had tried talking to him, but he had just snapped at her. So now, she was mad. Mad at him and mad at herself. How could he just ‘do’ her like that, without actually doing her and then just turn around 180 degrees. So yep, she was mad.

After the incident in the Lair or Foundry or whatever they wanted to call it, she had developed a friendly relationship with Diggle. Even though he was Oliver’s second in command, he was so relaxed and they had a nice time together. So besides rehearsals, developing her friendship with Diggle and being mad at Oliver she had spent her week watching random TV-shows and hanging out with Barry.

****

**In the Foundry**

‘’Did you get anything on the number plate yet?’’ Oliver asked Diggle, frustration growing inside of him.

‘’No, it was a stolen car from the Glades. But whoever they were they made a mistake.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’I saw his face! I’ve done a character sketch and had some of our paid off officers of the law to run it through their search database and it were a match for a Floyd Lawton A.K.A Deathstroke, a hired gun and a known associate with Sebastian Blood.’’

‘’Mayor Blood?’’

‘’Yep.’’ Diggle answers, popping the ‘p’. ‘’The one and only. I’ve heard your mother have had a few run-ins with him.’’

‘’Yes, but is was years ago. She wanted to run for Mayor against Blood, but she change her mind when my father died. Anyway, looks like we have to visit the Mayor’s office first thing in the morning then.’’

‘’Good.. By the way have you decided what do with Slade?’’

‘’Diggle...’’ He says exasperated, running his hand over his face.

‘’You got to do something Oliver, you know the rules and I quote – Murder when not sanctioned by the leadership will involve exile at best and death at the worse.’’

‘’I know… Send him to Lian Ya, exile him until we have dealt with the Vertigo problem, only then is he allowed to return. Make sure that he understands that this his first and last warning.’’

‘’Copy that.’’

****

It was Felicity’s first night as a dancer, and she was excited and very nervous. She always became nervous before a show but not like now, not so nervous that she was feeling like she was standing on a landmine about to be blown to pieces. Seriously girl get you head in the game!

She got ready with the other dancers on stage, waiting for Isabel finally taking the place in the middle so the show could start. Even though Isabel was the one taking the glory and Felicity just one of the background dancers it still felt amazing. Standing on that scene, it was what she had always wanted to do.

One move was led by another and then another and before she knew it the show was over, and the crowd were cheering and clapping. The only thing Felicity could think of was that she wanted more. She wanted to sing, not doing dumb playback, but really sing and dance.

They all walked off stage, being cheered on by an enthusiastically Thea telling them how great a job they all had done. It was Felicity’s only show that night, she knew Nyssa was going easy on her, because she was still the new kid, who had to learn all the different dance routines.

After she had changed clothes, she went down to the bar, where a male voice caught her attention.

‘‘Felicity!’’ She turned around. Of course, it was Max Fuller and his mischievous smile.

‘’Hello.’’

‘’Great show you guys did. You were amazing ’’ he said, while grabbing her arm, moving himself closer to her. A bit too close.

‘’Thank you’’, she smiled politely while nodding.

‘’If you are free you’re most welcome to join our table up there.’’ He said, while looking up towards one of the VIP tables. Felicity smiled not sure what to say. Max Fuller seemed like a nice guy, when taking the whole Bratva-membership into account, but then again we all join clubs we wish we hadn’t – seriously it had taken her a year to get out of that gym membership. However, there were still something about Max that made her uncomfortable.

‘’So are you free?’’ he asked again, raising his eyebrows in a questioning look. She blushed, realizing she had just zooned out for a minute not giving him an answer. She opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off.

''Нет, она не является''. [No, she is not], an angry Oliver snarled at Fuller, who in return just smiled. Felicity just stood there dumbfounded not really knowing what just happened.

‘’I asked her, not you’’. Fuller retorted.

''Мой клуб, в моих правилах'' [My club, my rules], Oliver said with a lethal glare directed at Fuller.

''Оставь ее'' [Leave her be], Oliver snarled, slamming his fist down onto the bar. High laughter escaped Fuller’s mouth. Felicity looked up at Oliver and even though she didn’t understand Russian, she was pretty sure he hadn’t been telling no jokes. She swallowed loudly.

Fuller straighten up and were about to leave when he stopped besides Oliver, whispering something to him.

''ревность уродливая вещь'' [jealousy is an ugly thing]

Oliver stood there and stared out into empty space, clearly thinking about what Fuller had just said to him. She could tell by the way his eyebrows inched closer together in concentration. She didn’t know what to do, so she turned around about to walk away when Oliver’s big rough and slightly nice hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the bar and the crowd and dragging her toward a corner in the club, darkness surrounding them. He pulled her forward making her stand right in front of him only inches away.

‘’Don’t go near Max’’

‘’What?’’

‘’Max Fuller.’’ He said with an annoyance in his voice. ‘’Stay away from him’’

‘’Why?’’

‘’It doesn’t matter! Just do as I say!’’ He barked out, his voice filled with authority. That was it! He was going to get a piece of her mind.

‘’NO!’’ She said in a slightly too high-pitched tone. Sooo not what she had hoped for.

‘‘What?’’ he demanded to know, his grip tightening around her wrist. She took a step closer to him, invading his personal space.

‘’I said NO. Or at least give me a reason?’’

She wasn’t backing down. Oliver was surprised by her actions, she was one feisty little thing. Some part of him got angry, she should just do as she had been told, but a bigger part of him was insanely turned on. He wanted nothing more than to take her right there and then. Fucking her senseless, making her beg. He sighed.

‘’He’s a bad influence...He’’ his jaw clenched shut. Why in earth was he explaining himself to this small petite, amazing looking woman. He took a deep breath. ‘’You work for me. So you do what I tell you to do!’’

‘’So what!!.. Yes I work for you, but right now I’m off the clock. You had no right to interfere.’’ She stares at him, her stormy blue eyes filled with anger and accusation.

Out in the corner of his eye he notice Tommy approaching them, but he doesn’t move away from Felicity.

‘’Oliver we have a problem with the computer system, it’s reporting some kind of error and it looks all weird.’’

Oliver sighs loudly. God dammit could this day get any worse.

‘’I’ll try to fix it Tommy.’’ He turns around and heads towards the office not looking back at either of them.

****

After a drink at the bar with Tommy, Felicity quickly relaxes. It is possible it had something to do with the cocktail Tommy had persuaded her to drink. It was Sara’s specialty, she calls it ‘Black Canary’ and it had a lot of booze in it. Something Felicity had needed.

When the alcohol had worked its magic and she had been talking to Tommy for a while or it was more him telling her about broody Oliver and his anger management problems when it comes to non-functioning technology. Felicity decided to find Oliver. She knew she probably shouldn’t, but maybe she could help. She did have a bit experience with computers.

She stopped by the office door, slowly opening it to see Oliver running a hand through his short-cropped hair.

’’Ебать’’ [Fuck]. He slams his hand down on the table, frustration written all over his face. Felicity reaches out gently laying a hand on his shoulder.

‘’Hey, what’s wrong?’’ he looks up, ‘’nothing, just not a good day.’’

‘’Anything I can help with?’’ She smiles encouragingly. Seriously, 2 minutes ago, they were arguing and now she wanted to help him. God she hated him or hated that she didn’t hate him as much as she wanted to hate him.

‘’Sure, if you know what to do with this.’’ He gestures towards the computer screen.

‘’Move.’’ Felicity said while gesturing for Oliver to move out of his chair. And judging from the lack of movement she sensed her ordering tone might have been too bold a move.

‘’Please, move.’’ She said again with a smile and he does so, slowly.

Felicity’s fingers flies across the keyboard, too fast for Oliver to know what she is doing.

‘’Soo, I have some bad news and some good ones.’’

‘’The bad ones first.’’

‘’Someone is trying to hack you.’’

‘’What?’’ ‘’Someone has tried to hack into your computer, going through your files. I don’t know what they’re after. However, the good news is that I’ve manage to stopped them’’

‘’Who could have done it?’’ ‘’Well, from what I’ve heard you have a few enemies.’’

‘’A few?’’ he huffed out a breath of air. ‘’The understatement of the year.’’

‘’Well, I did manage to trace the IP Address, but it only locates the culprit to come from Starling City.’’

‘’How, did you learn how to..?’’

‘’One of my stepdads, he…’’ she trailed of, not really sure how to continue.

‘’I get the sense that you have had your fair share of those.’’

‘’Yeah, you can say that. He wasn’t perfect, but he was one of the better ones. He was really intelligent, he even had a major in computer science. Just a shame his drinking problem was as big as his IQ.’’

Oliver immediately regretted asking her, knowing she didn’t like talking about it if the expression on her face were anything to go by. But he liked that she trusted him with this personal information about her.

‘’Felicity, you’re remarkable.’’

‘’Thank you for remarking on it. But can we keep it between us, because I kind of just hacked into your security system, laying a trap to catch the person hacking you, by using his own virus making him self-destruct. And don’t worry, I have updated your security software so it won’t be happening again. However, I did just commit a federal crime and I really don’t see myself fitting into Iron Heights..’’

She gasped, realizing what she had just said. Oliver Queen and Iron Heights in the same sentence – sooo not the best idea! She was too afraid to look at him or even to move a muscle. She was expecting to be beaten or shot right on the spot. She had heard the rumors about the last man mentioning Iron Height to Oliver’s face – he hadn’t been seen since.

‘’Don’t worry, they don’t send pretty blonds there.’’

That was all he said. The broody Oliver Queen cracking a joke, she looked up at him, and before she knew it her mouth started again, ‘’I dye it actually... Not that you would need to know that… 3..2..1.’’

He gently lays a hand on her shoulder, ‘’Thank you, Felicity. I owe you one.’’

Seriously, why is it always hot and cold with him? One moment she want to yell at him and the next she wants to kiss him like there’s no tomorrow. Oh boy, where did that come from?

‘’Actually, I do have a request,’’ she says, smiling a mischievous smile.

‘’What?’’ Oliver asks, but she hesitates suddenly feeling a bit unsure on herself, she bites down on her lower lip.

‘’Tell me, Felicity!’’, he demands to know, his voice low and feral. He leans down placing each of his hands on the chair, leveling his gaze to hers.

‘’Скажите, что вы хотите’’ [Tell me what you want]

He is soooo close, his scent, his eyes, his lips, his Russian. She looks down, but with his warm fingertips, he lifts her chin up forcing her to look at him.

‘’Посмотри на меня!’’ [Look at me!], he hisses out seductively.

She can’t take it anymore and she just blurts it out, ‘’I wanna sing.’’

Oliver chuckles lightly, because that was not the reaction he had expected or hoped for, ‘’You already sing?’’

‘’No, we do playback. I want to sing, please just one chance that’s all I ask.’’ He just looked at her, thinking.

’’Please Oliver.’’

That did it. Being all innocent, sweet and pure. And yet so God damm sexy the way she just begged him. The way she said ‘please Oliver’ will hunt his dreams he’s sure of it. His mind wandering of to all the things he could do to her, making her beg and moan his name. Something that would never happen, not as long as Barry Allen is in the picture.

He stood back up. ‘’Okay, I’ll clear it with Nyssa.’’

‘’Thank you’’ she fist bump the air, making Oliver laugh, a full-blown honest laugh. Something she had never witnessed before. He goes to leave the office, but turns around looking at Felicity with a serious expression on his face.

‘’On one condition!’’

‘’What?’’

‘’Max Fuller, you stay away from him.’’ He demands, his lips turning up in a mischievous smirk, knowing he had won their previous argument.

‘’Fine! I have a feeling you always get what you Mr. Queen.’’

He doesn’t answer, just winks at her, smiling his delicious smug smile that both annoyed her, but also sent the butterflies in her stomach in a frenzy.

Oliver went down to the bar, smiling for himself not able to get Felicity out of his mind and for the first time in a week he wasn’t trying too either. He replayed the night’s interaction between them in his head, thinking about the way she had called him Mr. Queen and in his office. A thought flew into his mind, him bending her over showing her just how much he appreciated her help. Showing how much he appreciated her, how much she affected him. He wanted to show her repeatedly - over and over again.

Oliver snapped out of his train of thoughts when seeing Tommy sitting at the bar. He’d better go explain him the situation and inform him about his meeting with Mayor Blood tomorrow.

**Another place in Starling City - (VIP table at Verdant)**

Max was looking down over Verdant seeing Queen talking to Merlyn at the bar.

‘‘Hello Max’’

‘’Isabel you look as lovely as always’’, he says while she stands beside him.

‘’I know! So how did the whole Sebastian Blood hiring Floyd to kill Oliver against your order work out?’’

‘’I handled it.’’

‘’How?’’

‘’Well, luckily for Floyd he missed so he only lost half his eyesight.’’ He said with a deadly grin.

‘’I don’t understand, why didn’t you just let him kill him?’’

‘’Because I do not wish Oliver Queen dead! I wish him destroyed!’’

‘’And Sebastian Blood?’’

‘’He made a mistake in thinking he could cross me, and he knows never to do it again. It was me, who helped him become Mayor - he’ll always be in my depth.’’

‘’What did you do’’ Isabel asks intrigued.

‘’I just persuaded Moira Queen not to run for Mayor. Anyway, It’s none of your business.’’

 

Max picks up his phone to text Sebastian Blood.

 **(Max)** **Vertigo:** Did you succeed in hacking his computer.

 **Blood:** No, my man got caught before we could retrieve anything and their security system has been upgraded. I can’t get in.

 **(Max) Vertigo:** Dammit. Well it was a long shot anyway. I’ll keep you posted on our next move!

 

‘’Is the new drug ready to be put on the street?’’ Max Vertigo asks coldly to Isabel standing beside him.

‘’Yes, and it’s more addictive than ever. Besides, we’re swimming in money and with Frank Bertinelli, Anatoly Knyazec, Alexi Leonov and Sebastian Blood behind us we are unstoppable. Let the war begin.’’

‘’Good! I can’t wait to destroy him - to destroy Oliver Queen. To take everything and everyone he holds dear away from him - his company, his Bratva throne, his money, his city, his friends, his love! To destroy his life like he and his family destroyed mine.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! :)


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